Best of 2014

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Seen & Heard: Aroma Espresso Bar

••• Jaime Viñas was at Barnes & Noble boobstore last night to see Mike Doughty, the ex-lead singer of Soul Coughing (“He has a terrific new album and tell-all substance abuse book, The Book of Drugs.”) Things got really exciting when a bare-breasted woman stood up and started talking about a burlesque show in Brooklyn. “She was sporting a drawn Marcel Duchamp–style mustache on her face. There was no security to escort her out, just a polite ‘Please put your shirt on, ma’am’ after she was done. So civilized. All in all, a good outing.” Viñas also a link to an interview with Doughty on WNYC.

••• Soft-opening tonight: Lotus Blue, the Yunnan (that’s a Chinese province) restaurant in the old Nam space on Reade. Get 10% off your entire bill. I peeked in—it looks nice!

••• I just noticed the ad pictured at left. Has it really been there since at least September?

••• 37 Warren—the building at the southwest corner of Church that’s getting four new stories—will be called Warren Lofts, according to the outgoing message at 212-371-5100, the number on the banner recently put on the building (and it’s being repped by Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group). The sign also has a URL (37warren.com), but it goes nowhere. Warren Lofts rings a bell….

••• The new Aroma Espresso Bar at Church and Barclay is positively roomy. So the future of the café is… a diner?

@Ron: Because I think we can all agree that diners are going the way of the dinosaur, but people will always want a place to eat that’s cheaper, nicer, and/or healthier than fast food. Places like Aroma—where you can order breakfast, lunch, or dinner, then sit (in a booth, even)—seem to me to be filling that gap.